Reality Check
by TheMonochromeDragon
Summary: Drawn into a world not her own and idolized for actions she has yet to take, Kobayashi Sayuri is thrust into a delicate dance with the very universe itself. With two left feet and her hands tied behind her back. And a blindfold on. And no music. Great Cyr, how would she ever survive this? All she wanted was to save the world! Was that too much to ask?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, and welcome to Reality Check!**

 **I won't reveal too much as of yet, but please note that this story will be rated Mature eventually, though probably not for a while. This chapter is pretty tame. I will put warnings on any chapters that aren't, however, so reading these author notes might be a good idea as the story progresses.**

 **Thank you so much for reading! I do hope you enjoy.**

~xXx~

Great, heaving coughs tore at her lungs and throat as she fought to expel the sickeningly sweet-smelling smoke that clung to the air, thick and viscous. Much to her lungs' delight, however, the vapors dissipated fairly quickly, though her chest still felt as though someone had taken a sledgehammer to her ribs. She drank in the fresh oxygen that had replaced the smog in an attempt to relieve the pain, eyes wide and searching as the air cleared.

It appeared as though she were in a bedroom, though one not her own. She was certain that she had fallen asleep in her own bed the night before, but... she was also certain that she did not have this many posters of, nor any copies of, a manga by the name of "Kanashi Yajū". Whoever this bedroom _did_ belong to, they were quite obviously obsessed. Not that she was one to talk, with how much Naruto paraphernalia she had littering her apartment.

She blinked once or twice, hoping to redirect her thoughts to more pressing matters (like what the hell was going on and why), and sat up from her hunched position as the ache in her chest began to fade. A weight she hadn't even noticed previously then shifted against her left thigh, drawing her gaze to the unconscious form that rested beside her. She jerked in surprise, dropping the person's head- which had been using her upper thigh as a pillow- upon the hardwood flooring with a sickening thud. They barely stirred.

She gaped.

Had she been kidnapped by this person? Or _with_ this person? Were they in danger, or was this stranger the danger? Why were they sleeping? Had they been drugged? Had _she_ been drugged?! Was that what that smoke was?!

Though hyperventilating would certainly not help the situation- nor her sore lungs- she could not help but do exactly that. Her sight blurred as she grew lightheaded, the oxygen that had previously been such a relief now feeling far too thin to breathe. Fear crept into her heart and sank vicious claws into her mind, cruel and unyielding.

 _One, two, three..._

She sucked in a shaky breath, fingers tapping the hardwood floor beneath them absentmindedly.

 _One, two, three..._

Tap. Tap. Tap. The familiar rhythm soothed her, calming her nerves and clearing her mind. She could not panic now, not while she still had no clue what was going on. Four questions were in need of immediate answer, which would hopefully clarify the situation.

One, where was she?

Two, how had she gotten there?

Three, why was she there?

And four, who was the person next to her?

She pushed herself up, wobbling slightly on her feet as her head spun with vertigo. A headache settled into the back of her skull, throbbing out an irritating pattern that was difficult to ignore. She tried anyway, moving towards the door on silent feet. Twisting the doorknob slowly, she was pleased to find it unlocked, and opened it just wide enough for a single eye to see through.

A darkened hallway and some dimly illuminated stairs were all that was visible, a few other doors scattered here and there. It looked like a normal house from what she could see, though that meant very little. Who knew what was behind those doors?

Widening the gap, she was just about to slip through when she heard a door open down below. She shrank back, crouching even as she continued to hold the door open just the slightest bit, listening carefully.

"Tadashi?" A distinctly feminine voice called, echoing through the otherwise silent house. There was the sound of shoes being removed and set down, followed by quiet footsteps moving towards the stairs. "Tadashi, I'm home! Sorry I'm late, a couple Genin came in at the end of my shift and needed some stitching up from their first C-rank."

The girl flinched back as the woman began to ascend the stairs, nearly tripping over the prone form of her unconscious companion in her haste. She wondered vaguely if they were this "Tadashi" person the woman was looking for, even as she searched frantically for a place to hide. The bed was too low the the ground, and beneath the desk was far too open and visible. It seemed the closet was her only option, and she leapt for it with desperation, the woman's footsteps growing ever closer.

"Tadashi?" The woman called once again, concern lacing her tone as she poked her head into the room. Having just barely made it into the closet in time to avoid detection, the girl worked to steady her breathing, peering out at the room warily. The woman, she noticed, had the same mint-green hair and pale skin as the person on the floor. Was she their sister? Mother? "Tadashi!" The woman cried out, spying the unconscious form on the floor.

She rushed in, scooping "Tadashi" into her arms and setting them carefully upon the bed. Her hands fluttered around, panicky but well-practiced in their movements as they checked for a pulse and a fever. Whatever she found relieved her, though she was still quite tense.

"What have you done to yourself this time, stupid son?" The woman whispered sadly, confirming the girl's suspicions of her motherhood. It was also nice to know that this Tadashi character was male, since it gave her an extra clue as to who _exactly_ he was, though it did bring up the question of why she was in a boy's bedroom.

The woman shifted, obstructing the girl's view of everything except her back and Tadashi's face, though it was obvious from the movement of her shoulders that her hands were still dancing desperately over the boy.

"Chakra exhaustion." Tadashi's mother muttered, nearly too quiet for the girl to hear. She was obviously quite frustrated with her diagnosis, though she continued to treat the boy with gentle hands. The girl narrowed her eyes, confused. Was chakra exhaustion even real? She hadn't thought so, but apparently this woman did. Surely, though, if chakra had been a part of the Evolution Revolution, it would've been announced with all the others?

Her train of thought was soon derailed, however, as Tadashi's eyelids began to quiver. Another moment, and they sprung open, stunning the girl with the vibrant silver irises that they revealed. Her awe only lasted a moment, however, replaced by a bolt of terror as the boy managed to form a single word.

"Sayuri..."

~xXx~

 **Thank you for reading the first chapter of my Naruto fanfic! Hopefully this one lasts longer than my other one... I grew pretty sick of the idea pretty fast. But this idea's been stuck in my head for years now. I just hope I can write it eloquently enough to make it interesting!**

 **Feel free to leave reviews! I will try to read every comment, and reply to them whenever possible. Any support is much appreciated, even if it's a critique- so long as it's a useful one. Any rude or ignorant comments, however, will be promptly deleted.**

 **Thirdly, this story is mostly a copy-paste from my Wattpad account, though the author notes might be a little different. I will be uploading chapters here on only once a week, but to Wattpad much more frequently. If you can't wait for the next chapter, please head over to Wattpad! I have the same username over there, so it'll probably be pretty easy to find me.**

 **Until next time,**

 **The Monochrome Dragon**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome to chapter two! Thank you so much for continuing to read Reality Check.**

 **This chapter is still pretty tame. Not much cause for concern, though it does kind of mention the possibility of a traumatic experience? I guess? Whatever. It's PG 13 at worst.**

 **I know I said I'd only be posting to once a week, but then I remembered I was going camping all next week and wouldn't have access to my laptop. So... here ya go! I'll post the third chapter the Tuesday after I get back.**

 **A big thank you to Arianna Le Fay for the favorite and follow!**

 **Now, without further ado, please enjoy!**

~xXx~

Sayuri held her breath a moment, tears welling as the fear and confusion grew to be too much for her to handle. Her frustration at her own perceived cowardice, however, was just enough to prevent the tears from falling. She wanted to be brave, to surge out of the closet with all the fury of a natural disaster and demand answers. She wanted to know why she was here- wherever here was- and why this boy knew her name when she was positive she had never seen him before in her life. And why, if they were EVs with chakra, didn't they have Tags?

Were they EV hunters? Those radicalist Norms who used machines and Power Drugs to kill EVs, displaying their bodies as a warning to other EVs? Were they going to torture her for information on the rebels? She wasn't even a part of the rebellion! She was just an I EV, weak and nearly powerless. The closest to being a Norm that an EV could be! Maybe she could talk her way out of this? Make them see reason?

Still, she remained huddled in the closet, trembling in a volatile mixture of fear and anger.

"Sayuri?" The mother questioned, stepping back from her child to give him a fierce, motherly glare. Sayuri waited, heart pounding out a rather vicious beat. Why did they _know_ her?! Why?! Had she been stalked? Researched? "Not this again." The woman groused as the boy sat up, clutching at his skull as though it ached. Sayuri's own head throbbed, as if reminded that it ought to hurt.

"Sayuri." Tadashi murmured once more, blinking rapidly. "Sayuri!" He suddenly exclaimed, head shooting up. Those bright, silver eyes of his scanned the room, and for the span of a single, stuttering heartbeat, Sayuri was certain he was staring right at her. But his piercing gaze moved on, and Sayuri relaxed infinitesimally. "Where is she?" He queried, glancing up at his mother, before apparently realizing her anger. "Mom?"

"What were you thinking?!" She demanded of her son, hands on her hips and eyes narrowed. Sayuri flinched back, the wrath of the frightened mother almost a physical force in the air. Tadashi merely winced, however, clearly far more used to withstanding the woman's anger. "You could've killed yourself!" Tadashi looked ready to speak up and defend himself, but his mother continued to speak before he could. "I've told you over and over to stop this! You've got so much talent, and all you're doing with it is risking your life to bring some stupid-"

"It's not stupid!" Tadashi protested, though he quailed beneath the force of the glare it earned him. "It's not." Tadashi repeated firmly. He looked down at his hands, searching for something Sayuri could not see. "I'm not just doing this for fun, Mom." The boy grew a little more confident, meeting his mother's gaze with wide eyes. "And when I figure it out, when it works..." He stopped, realizing something, before a look of pure and utter joy spread across his features. "It worked! Mom, it finally worked!"

"Tadashi..." The woman warned, fury abated but replaced by a tired sort of anger that was nearly as frightening. Tadashi shook his head, holding firm.

"No, Mom. I saw her. It worked." His tone pleaded for his mother to believe him. Whatever this was, it was important to him. His mother seemed to realize this and softened, more resigned than anything else. Tadashi took it, apparently believing that it was the best he was going to get.

Sayuri, watching on, had never been so confused in her entire life. She was sure, in fact, that _nobody_ had ever felt this confused ever before, nor would anybody else from this point onward. Confusion, it seemed, made up her very _being_ in this moment.

Three more of those important questioned still needed answering, the fourth could still use a little clarification, and at least a thousand more had cropped up during the argument between mother and son. What did any of this have to do with her? The conversation had devolved from a repetition of her name to a nonsensical squabble that meant absolutely nothing to the girl. All that terror, all that frustration... Now all she felt was was the desperate need for answers, and she was just about ready to walk right out and ask for them.

"Tadashi..." The older woman spoke, breaking the tense silence with her slow drawl of realization. "Did you leave your door open?" As she spoke, Sayuri's blood turned to ice water in her veins. A quick search through her memory revealed that _she,_ not the boy, had been the one to leave the door ajar in her haste to hide. She berated her own stupidity, hoping against hope that the boy would think he had.

"No..." Tadashi replied, shattering that hope with a single word. He stood slowly, swaying, and headed directly for Sayuri's hiding spot. Terror returned tenfold, the tears overflowing now as her will to hold them back crumbled beneath the weight of her fear. She was doomed. She had been stupid, and now she would be killed by this family of EV hunters, her body left in the street for all to see. She should've run the moment she woke up, should've gotten the hell out and gone underground until she could find a new house far, far away.

Now, she was cornered, stuck in a room with two EV hunters. She didn't stand a chance.

"I didn't leave my closet open, either." The boy said, coming to a stop before the closet in question. A hand reached for the gap Sayuri had been looking through, nearly hitting her nose as it curled around the edge of the door and pushed. A sob escaped her before she could stop it, loud and raspy, full of the dread that threatened to consume her.

The hand pulled away.

The door had been opened just wide enough to reveal her crumpled form, her body caving in on itself as sobs wracked her small frame. It was all she could do to close her eyes, and wait for the pain to begin.

~xXx~

 **This chapter was pretty dramatic, but her fear is pretty justified. As her world is revealed more and more, you will hopefully understand. Besides, waking up in a strange place with strange people who know your name would probably be terrifying to anyone, really.**

 **I hope this chapter provides a little insight into both of the main characters. It was actually fairly difficult to write. I didn't really like how I worded it for a while, and kept having to go back and tweak bits and pieces. I still don't think it's perfect, but I can't think of anything to change without changing the characters themselves.**

 **Anyway, please feel free to leave a review! It would be much appreciated.**

 **Thanks again!**

 **Until next time,**

 **The Monochrome Dragon**


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